We have previously spent a lot of time discussing Plex and Kodi, and will continue to do so in the future. After all, these two apps dominate the home theater sector: they let you watch, cast, and manage all of your media.

Emby doesn’t boast the same level of recognition as its two big brothers, which is unfair. The app’s developers have spent the last couple of years consistently improving the software. Today, it can rival both Plex and Kodi. In some respects, it’s superior to the offering from the two powerhouses.

So, what exactly is Emby? What are its headline features? And what are its pros and cons when compared to Plex and Kodi? Let’s take a closer look.

What Is Emby?

Emby is a media center app. As you’d expect, it lets you play music and videos, as well as view photographs.

You can download the desktop version of the app on Windows, macOS, Linux, and on NAS devices. The mobile version is available for Android and iOS. There is also a web app.

Finally, the Emby app is open source. Aside from being an important philosophical point for some users, the availability of the source code means that, like Kodi, Emby has a thriving an active community that develops plugins and other exciting tweaks.

Emby also offers a Kodi add-on. And because Emby is open-source, it arguably works even better than the Plex offering; the integration between the two is more substantial.

For example, the add-on lets Kodi scrape the Emby database. When the scrape is complete, your Emby content will be visible in Kodi’s libraries.

On the other hand, content on Plex is only accessible in Kodi via the Plex add-on. No content is scraped, and none of your Plex content will show up alongside your Kodi content.

Server/Client Model

Emby takes a leaf out of Plex’s book and uses a server/client model. In practice, it means you install the server app on the machine or hard drive where all your content is saved, then access it using the client apps on other devices.

All you need to access your content is a username and password. This implementation is identical to Plex but very different to Kodi.

The Kodi app is primarily a client app. It is possible to set Kodi up as a server, but it’s a much more technical process and not suitable for beginners. And even if you get Kodi operating as a server, the integration is not as smooth.

Open Source

As mentioned earlier, Emby is open source. For reference, Kodi is open source, but Plex is not.

Open-source software has a number of advantages over closed-source. For example, because anyone can inspect open-source code, you can be confident there are no nasty security issues or privacy nightmares looming.

Plugins

Many members of the Emby open-source community have developed plugins for the app. When you’re running the Emby app, you can browse to Plugins in the left-hand panel to search the catalog.

You will be able to find a plugin for everything from cinema trailers to TuneIn radio and metadata finders to Slack notifications.

Parental Controls

Parental controls on Plex are hidden behind a Plex Pass subscription. On Kodi, parental controls can be hit-and-miss. They work well for locally-saved content, but are less reliable for streamed content.

On Emby, parental controls are a native part of the free app. They’re easy to set up, and work across all the media on your device.

The Cons of Using Emby

No app is perfect, and Emby is no different. There are two downsides you need to be aware of.

Emby is a different story. Without paying for the Premiere plan, you won’t be able to sync content with your devices for offline viewing, browse the podcast channel, use the DVR features, download and use the free mobile apps, or use the Emby app on your TV.

Other features offered with Premiere include Amazon Alexa integration, folder backup, and cinema mode.

Smaller Userbase

In terms of user numbers, Emby is a considerable distance behind both Plex and Kodi. While lower user numbers are in no way representative of the quality of the app, a smaller userbase does affect the extended community.

For example, anyone who’s spent any time using Kodi will know there are thousands of add-ons for the app. The number of plugins on Emby is an order of magnitude lower. If the app could attract more users, the community would grow, and the number of plugins would blossom.

But the development in the last couple of years has been encouraging. And it feels like the groundwork is in place for an app that could genuinely rival its two most prominent competitors within the next few years.

I'm still using Windows Media Center (Win 8.1) but I keep expecting to move to something like Kodi. However, I've been using Emby for years now on my non-HTPCs/phones/tablets and, lately, bought the lifetime subscription, all because Emby just seems to work well for everything but Live TV/DVR. For the last few days, I've been, once again, playing with Kodi and trying to decide if my wife would be willing to switch from WMC to Kodi. Kodi just feels too awkward and disorganized as compared to WMC and Emby. So I've spent too many hours just today trying to get Emby to work well with TV/DVR with my effort centered on NextPVR and ServerWMC (I have a Ceton w/4 tuners). So far it looks a lot more compelling than Kodi. However, based on this article and comments, I'm going to give Plex a try again and see how that compares. Glad I happen to stumble over this article. Thanks

Clearly the author has done thiere home work on emby. There's no mention of the constant need to phone home and if it can't it knocks you back down to the free version. Or the device limitations, which keeps getting reduced. Or how the Devs have targeted successful 3rd party interfaces and altered the source to stop them form working. The emby devs are a piece of work. Thier entire project it build on the backs of so many others and they they act like thier Plex or Cisco with thier licensing models. I get they want to make money .... But phoning home, device limits, nag banners, time limits ?? Really. I'd rather pay for Plex for no other reason than thier up front about who and what they are. And don't try to screw or nickel and dime thier users.

This article has some inaccuracies and not necessarily correct information so
A) Emby server is open source but my clients are not or to be more accurate no longer are open source.
B) MB clients Maybe free but they keep harassing you about joining MB premiers on some client like on Samsung TVs for example you have to wait for 10 seconds before you able to continue playing your own media unless you join Emby Premier near $5 a month just to play your own media.
C) Plex is totally free if you are playing your own media it determines that based on the IP address if you are using local IP addresses then it works for free.
D) emby clients are totally unreliable they keep getting stuck with this waiting Circle all the time. On the other hand and be server has proved to be quite powerful and reliable even on low-bandwidth connection
E) I found out that the best combination is using Kodi as a client with emby server.

I use all three (Plex, Emby, & Kodi) and here are my general thoughts.

Plex is, for the most part, the easiest to use option for most people. It has a large community to pull from and offers a ton of great features. It is my daily user and what i share with friends and family without any issues. The big down sides are that some clients tend to be forgotten (PS4 and smart TV apps) compared to the continuous updates for more popular clients, the lack of customization of the interface bothers some people, and the DVR/TV Listings are the biggest issues for me.

Kodi offers great customization, tons of add-ins, a large user base, and offers a better media center feel than the others. I do tend to use Kodi the least though since it is less user friendly compared to Plex. The lack of supported Apple TV and Roku apps adds to my lack of use.

Emby is a great Plex alternative. In my opinion, it is less polished but does other things better. The DVR is much better than the Plex option. The transcoders operate just about equally for me as well. The user interface is not as friendly as Plex but is easier to navigate than Kodi.

I recommend Plex for most people. If you don't need the server or only want it on one device, use Kodi if you are up for the extra work to put into it. If you want the best of both, try Emby but set up Plex along side it. Setting your media up in Plex's format will ensure that all three can read the files.

Emby is really good, especially the DVR implementation.
Emby also has all the clients that really count, like Android TV (shield,mibox etc) ,Fire TV, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Web browser,ROKU and more.
I really recommend Emby and real competition to Plex is a good thing.

As a counterpoint, almost every internet enabled set top box or TV made in the last six or seven years has a Plex client, even if you have something as weird as a WebOS or Firefox OS device. Moreover, that client is probably built in to the default options on the device. Knowing that Plex interoperates with pretty much anything I want to connect to it is one of the biggest reasons I continue to support Plex. Emby is functionally just about the same thing, but with a smaller community and fewer supported devices. Choosing Emby over Plex right now seems almost deliberately obtuse.

Emby has way better DVR support. It also has really good device support.
I tried Plex and it was super buggy and the DVR implementation failed many times to record stuff I had scheduled. Saw emby and it's been solid.
Many of the plex clients on those add devices have not been updated and don't match the other newer clients, so take the broad client support with a grain of salt.

That's as maybe but,
'Plex' has free apps for most TV's and boxes.
If one wishes to compete don't tie one hand behind your back.

Exposure, exposure, exposure!

ike301

April 16, 2018 at 4:21 pm

You can use Emby TV for free. This article is wrong on that point. You need to pay if you want to use the DVR function. If you know what ServerWMC is, one can use that for free DVR service within Emby.

Dan is a British expat living in Mexico. He is currently a Senior Writer and the Affiliate Optimization Manager for MakeUseOf. At various times, he has been the Social Editor, Creative Editor, and Finance Editor. He is also an Editor for MUO's sister site, Blocks Decoded and a Senior Writer for VPN Proof. Prior to his writing career, he was…